Damn Socs
by joostthecow1
Summary: Steve and Sodapop run into some trouble with a gang of Socs, and some love too.


"Soda, hate to break it to you bud but you've gotta wear a shirt to work." Darry laughed as I opened the door to leave.  
"Oh yeah! Whoops- Hey Pony, toss me my DX shirt!" My little brother promptly threw the shirt at my face, and I pulled it on, buttoning it as I ran out the door to Steve's truck. I hopped in the passenger seat. Steve sped away, leaving skid marks on the turn off our street.  
"God Steve, you drive just about as well as I do!" I was holding the edge of the seat to keep from getting knocked around.  
"We know everything 'bout cars but don't got a clue how to drive 'em," Steve chuckled. "Just the way I like it."

* * *

Later in the day, on the way home from work, we decided to drive around town to catch a double-feature at the drive in, and then after that to the Dairy Queen and get some burgers. We hastily ate them, both hungry from the long day.  
"We should get going soon. I told Darry I'd be back by 11," I looked up and noticed Steve was staring at me. "Uh..Something wrong?" He quit his staring and seemed to zone back in.  
"Sorry Soda, anyway yeah, let's get going before Superman decides to come looking for you."  
We threw away the trash and headed out to Steve's truck. I walked ahead of him, and got that feeling you get when you know you're being looked at. Steve was acting weird. Weirder than usual, that it.  
"Hey Soda, do you think I'll get drafted?" Steve's question threw me off. _That's why he was acting weird, I guess._  
"I don't know, but I sure hope not." I didn't know what else to say to him. I'd forgotten he'd turned 18.  
"Thanks Soda, at least you want me to stay here, unlike the old man." Steve looked really down on himself, Mr. Randle had probably said something about enlisting.  
"Cheer up Stevie, there's only a small-" I was cut off by the sound of a car speeding straight out in front of Steve's from around the corner.  
Steve hit the brakes, but we were too close to the Mustang. We collided. I felt my head bang against the dashboard. I yelped in pain and put my hand to the side of my head in pain. I looked at it. My hand was bloody. I looked over at Steve, who was pretty banged up too.  
"Sodapop, are you okay?" Steve stared at me frantically, and my head hurt so bad all I could manage was a quiet "yeah." He hopped out of the truck yelled at the driver of the Mustang to get out of the car. Three Socs stepped out, and the one who was driving yelled back at Steve.  
"You ruined my car, hood!" His speech was slurred, he was clearly drunk, and he swung at Steve. Steve ducked and punched him square in the face. The other two were ready to jump on Steve for that. I hopped out of the truck to help Steve. One of the two who weren't driving ran at me and punched. I stumbled backwards, then regained balance and punched him in the gut. He fell over. I made my way to Steve and knocked one of the guys away from him. Steve pushed the other guy off himself and I punched him in the face again. He tried to crawl back into his car- where the other two had already gone- but I grabbed him and punched him in the face again. No one's gonna hit Steve without a beating. Steve grabbed my arm as I went to punch him a third time.  
"Cool it! They'll be goin' to the fuzz anyway, don't make 'em look any worse!" Steve pulled me backwards. He was right. "God Soda, you look as if you wanna kill someone!" I relaxed.  
"Sorry Steve, just angry," I remembered Darry had wanted me home. "Usually Pony's the one that doesn't use his head, and speaking of that phrase, Darry is gonna lose his shit." Steve gave me a concerned look, then nodded.  
"You sure your head is alright?" He touched the spot I was bleeding from softly. I could feel my face getting red. I didn't know why. It was just Steve.  
" Yeah, I'm good."  
"I could've taken them by myself ya know," He still looked concerned. "That punch couldn't have helped your head much."  
I smiled a little. "You're really worried about me aren't you?"  
His face went a little surprised, then he smiled and laughed. "Shit Soda. Let's just drive home."  
"Not until you tell me what's up."  
"Can I tell you what's up tomorrow?"  
"Nope."  
"But-"  
"No buts."  
"Sodaaaa."  
"Come on Steve I'm your best friend, you can tell me anything." He took a deep breath and looked straight at me.  
"Well Sodapop, I'm pretty sure I really like you more than a friend. There. I said it."  
I stared at him dumbfounded. And then I reached up and kissed him. Steve pulled me against him, and we were standing in the middle of the street, just kissing, for a few seconds. It felt like ages. Then Steve broke away and walked back to the truck. He turned and motioned for me to come along. I headed over and hopped into the truck. I looked at him and smiled. We drove back to my home. We were an hour and a half late.

* * *

When we walked inside, Darry and Ponyboy were waiting in the living room. Darry's face turned a little pale. He hurried over to me.  
"Sodapop, Steve, what happened to you two?" I quickly told the story of the crash and the fight, and was sure to leave out the kiss. Just as I finished, we heard a siren in the distance.  
"I knew they'd go to the police. And here they come." Steve frowned.  
"How could they go to them? They were drunk, they'd get in trouble too."  
"I bet they got someone to lie somethin' for them. Say he was driving the car when he wasn't there at all. I bet they blamed the whole crash on us too!" Steve scrunched his face in anger. "Damn, do I hate those Socs."  
"Alright you two, just tell the truth when they get here. I can see this turning into a court hearing," Darry shook his head. "Just what we need."  
We let them in right when they knocked on the door. Two officers, one short and dirty blonde haired, with a stern look on his face. The other was a woman, taller and darker haired. The woman spoke first.  
"We spoke with some kids. They say someone who lives here crashed into their car, then attacked them. One of the boys is bruised quite badly."  
Steve spoke up, quite loudly. "Listen woman, I was driving and carefully obeying the law, when some Mustang came speeding around the corner and crashed into us. Not the other way around," The lady officer took out a notepad and pen and started writing things down. "We got outta the car to see what the hell was happening, and three drunk Socs got out of the car attacked us. So we defended ourselves." She nodded and finished writing.  
"So there were only three boys, and all of them were intoxicated? Even the driver?" The male officer asked Steve this, and Steve answered arrogantly.  
"That's just what I said."  
We told them more of what'd happened, and they eventually told us the Soc who owned the car was getting his dad to file papers to sue Steve and I as we spoke.  
"So we'll have to go to court?" Darry asked, concerned.  
"Well yes, but for now, Steve and- What was your name kid?" I rolled my eyes. Of course she'd forget my name.  
"His names Sodapop." Steve answered promptly.  
"Okay son, but his actual name." She seemed impatient.  
"You new 'round here lady? His actual name is Sodapop Curtis." I gave Steve a 'cool it' look. She told us we could drive down behind them, and that Darry could come with us.

* * *

We were down at the station for a while, and were asked the same questions as before. They asked if we had conflict with those guys at all. We told them not specifically those three, we barely even knew them. I mean, we knew their names from around town. The driver, Brett, was in the grade I'd be in if I was still in school, and the other two, Scott and Tom, were a year younger. But we didn't really know them, and they didn't have any reason to hate us. They were drunk and stupid. At one point, Darry left the room to talk to someone about whether this would affect where Ponyboy and I would live. He always worried about stuff like that. But this wasn't real bad like last year. Heck, this wasn't my fault or Steve's at all. I looked at Steve. He gave me a smile. I smiled back.  
"They'd better charge them for damage to your oh so expensive truck." I laughed a little.  
"They'd better charge them for damage to your face there Sodapop," Steve laughed with me. "Seriously though, they should. They attacked us."  
"Well actually, they attacked you. I just defended us," I scanned his face. "You're worse off than I am."  
"You defended us quite well actually. You barely needed me."  
"I was just angry. They were tryin' to gang up on ya." I smiled again and Steve smirked.  
"You didn't want anything bad to happen to this supermodel face did ya?"  
I rolled my eyes, but he was staring at me, his eyes locked on mine. He scooted his chair closer to me. I could feel my heart beating faster. He leaned in and kissed me again. I kissed him back, this time more aware of _him_. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled even closer to me. We broke the kiss eventually. Steve smiled at me.  
"Those damn Socs are gonna pay. And you and me are gonna keep doin' we're doin'."


End file.
